Review

Let’s take some time to reflect on last month’s TEC21 Challenges and share experiences. Share a success, a challenge you experienced or a lesson learned.

Make sure to use something as you go along to write down your successes and failures. Utilize one of the following digital tools:

Padlet

Google Slides

Google Docs

Wakelet

Announcements

1. The next workshop date is scheduled for Thursday, February 24.

2. Check out IDEA‘s website for upcoming events.

3. Will you be needing to renew your teaching license soon? Are you considering starting a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction within the next five years? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, we encourage you to consider applying to Concordia University, Nebraska, to receive three graduate-level credits for your TEC21 experience. There is no additional work that is required of you and the process is simple. The application period will open during February’s workshop day and run through May 15, 2022. For your convenience, a link to the online application will be included on our final three agendas (February, March and April).

4. Looking ahead to the remaining sessions.. As a reminder, our final workshop day has been dubbed “Celebration Day” because there is much to celebrate. Throughout the course of the school year we have made new friendships, prayed for one another, acquired new resources, developed or refined our teaching practices, and have grown our network of support. The last session’s format is unique among the others in that each of you will share some of the ways in which you implemented your ideas or projects to enhance your teaching and student learning. Think of this as a mini-conference where each of you will have 10-15 minutes to share with the group how your TEC21 experience has impacted your classroom. It’ll be among friends so there’s no need to get worked up about it. Here’s an outline to guide you in your planning – “Celebration Day”.  Again, remember this is a low-key, no pressure, fun day to share with each other our successes (and yes failures) as well as aspirations you for things you might want to do the next school year!

5. Throughout this program, we have been emphasizing the value of being connected educators in Lutheran education today. In September, we shared specific platforms in which TEC21 facilitators and teachers are able to connect online to further build and strengthen their professional learning networks. As we find ourselves about half way through this series of workshops, what a great time to reflect on the benefits of being able to gather together for these monthly sessions to be equipped, trained, encouraged, and supported. We also hope the relationships that are being built this year will continue to be a blessing to your teaching ministry for many years to come! Know that as a team of facilitators, we will always be here to support you! #LutheranSchoolsThrive

Twitter: Follow @TEC21_LuthEd and the many other educators who have utilize this powerful communication tool. Follow and use these hashtags #TEC21lcms & #LuthEd when tweeting!

Facebook Group: Engage with TEC21 Educators going all the way back to “Season 1” to ask questions and share ideas to support one another!

Facebook: Please help us get the word out to as many teachers as possible about the TEC21 Workshop Program by “Liking” us on the TEC21 Facebook Page!

Pinterest: Do you love Pinterest? Then you’ll love all the teaching ideas and resources that get pinned to TEC21’s collaborative board. Start pinning to the board with us by clicking HERE.

Instagram: Follow TEC_21 so you can enjoy the fun pics taken at our workshop centers from year to year.

Collaborative Learning Activities

Teachers have been collaborating in a variety of ways for years. For example, have you ever had your students write letters to pen pals, missionaries, or perhaps participate in a Flat Stanley project? Many teachers still engage their students in these types of fun and meaningful lessons! Can you imagine, however, the opportunities you have to enhance these kinds of rich, experiential learning activities by using some of the remarkable digital tools and resources available to us in the classroom today?

There are a number of ways to virtually connect your students with other students or experts outside your classroom walls. Likewise, there are a variety of digital tools that are designed with features that afford students the capability to collaborate in some amazing ways. What kinds of learning activities are possible today when we use things like Skype (or other video chat tool), Flipgrid, Google Slides, Padlet, etc.? How have you used any of these with your students?

Today, let’s do something incredibly fascinating. Let’s have all 178 TEC21 teachers (+ the 30 TEC21 Facilitators) in our 30 cohorts this year engage in three collaborative learning activities! Our hope is that through these experiences, each of us will leave here today encouraged and inspired to try something new or different with our students!

Collaborative Activity #1 – Participate in a Mystery Skype Call with another TEC21 cohort

Have you ever Skyped with another classroom before?

Tips for a successful Mystery Skype experience:

1. Find a teacher who wants to do a Mystery Skype.
2. Skype with each other first (without students) to practice using the platform and to plan for the activity.
3. Prepare your students with how the activity works, make assignments for the various roles, and GO FOR IT!

Many supplemental resources (age appropriate) can be found on the web to help plan for a successful lesson. For an example, here is one to get you started: Check out Skype–etiquette.

Who’s ready to give it a try?

Fill out this GOOGLE FORM. Then look on the SPREADSHEET to find a good match.

Maybe you can even connect after lunch today to meet one another and begin to make a plan!  

Collaborative Activity #2 – Collaborate with teachers from all 30 cohorts to create one Google Slide Presentation

Let’s all collaborate to make ONE Google Slide presentation.

It might get a little messy, but let’s give it a try and have some fun with it!

Click HERE for the directions and to edit the presentation.

Collaborative Activity #3 – In the spirit of collaboration, we’ve created a “Tech Potluck” Padlet for everyone to be able to contribute a favorite educational tech “dish”–website, app, hardcopy/audio book, podcast or YouTube Channel

Need for Collaboration by Teachers AND Students

“Today over 85% of Americans have access to the internet, many of whom could no longer imagine a life without it.”  August 31, 2020, Statistica

ISTE Standards for Teachers. Based on the International Society for Technology in Education’s National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (ISTE NETS*T), teachers should be able to apply technology to grow in these areas as an educator:

• Learner: learning from and with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve student learning
• Leader: leadership to support student empowerment and success and to improve teaching and learning
• Citizen: inspire students to positively contribute to and responsibly participate in the digital world
• Collaborator: collaborate with both colleagues and students to improve practice, discover and share resources and ideas, and solve problems
• Designer: design authentic, learner-driven activities and environments that recognize and accommodate learner variability
• Facilitator: facilitate learning with technology to support student achievement of the ISTE Standards for Students
• Analyst: understand and use data to drive their instruction and support students in achieving their learning goals

21st Century skills are 12 abilities that today’s students need to succeed in their careers during the Information Age.

21st Century skills are:

1. Critical thinking
2. Creativity
3. Collaboration
4. Communication
5. Information literacy
6. Media literacy
7. Technology literacy
8. Flexibility
9. Leadership
10. Initiative
11. Productivity
12. Social skills

The incredible collaboration behind the International Space Station – Tien Nguyen A TED-Ed lesson worth sharing. Great intro to a Project-Based Learning project where students collaborate to solve a problem or meet a goal!

Top Digital Tools & Resources on Collaborative Learning

Center- and Educator-specific Digital Tools & Resources

From the Admin’s Desk

• Push Android and Chome apps
• Admin App
• Admin labels
• Creating subgroups

Lunch Hour at 11:30am/Back to Work at 12:30pm

Project Development

TEC21 Challenges

1. Digital: Engage your students in a collaborative learning activity to enrich a lesson or unit. You might even consider teaming with another teacher on your faculty or one from anywhere around the world.

2. Social: Post to the TEC21 Educators Group on Facebook. It can be a comment, an answer to someone’s question, a resource, or a picture of you and your students engaging in a collaborative learning activity.

3. Spiritual: Be a resource for one of your colleagues at your school by sharing a digital tool, a teaching strategy or learning activity.

4. Season 14 cohorts are forming now! Please encourage a fellow teacher to join us next year! Personal testimonies go a long way, so we would be most grateful if you would help us by thinking of a fellow teacher or teachers that you could encourage to register for the 2022/2023 school year. They could be teachers from your school or any other school for that matter. With your help we will be able to impact more teachers and their students for the sake of the gospel. Share with them how valuable it’s been to you to be able to connect with other teachers serving in Lutheran schools outside of your school building and the positive impact it’s having on you and your students. We thank you in advance for any support of our efforts that you can give to us. Thank you for supporting our mission and vision and being an ambassador for TEC21! #TEC21lcms #LutheranSchoolsThrive #LuthEd

Reflection

To open the reflection in its own tab, select HERE.

My Contact Info

Add a picture that shows you in your element and helps to connect with your group on a personal and/or professional level. Provide your contact information so your teachers can get ahold of you for support and encouragement (e.g. email address, cell phone number, and username/handle with social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Marco Polo, Skype, etc.)

? A FACILITATOR BEST PRACTICE IDEA.. DELETE EXEMPLARS AND REPLACE WITH YOUR OWN ?

? EXEMPLAR #1 ?

conelson@rcls.net – Facebook:  @nelsonrcls – Twitter:  @nelsonrcls – Pinterest:  nelsonrcls – 507.358.5839

? EXEMPLAR #2 ?

Please feel free to reach out if you ever need any help with technology integration or you have questions about something we did this year!  I am always happy to help.

Email: kathymaske@gmail.com

Phone: 618-980-1286 (call or text)

I can also be found on Facebook, Twitter (@kathymaske), or Instagram (@kathymaske)

Connected teachers inspiring students in Technology Enriched Classrooms.